Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken to implement gigabit rollout in rural areas on those areas.

More than £2.4 billion of Project Gigabit contracts have already been signed to connect over one million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband. These premises fall predominantly in rural areas. As of the end of March 2025, over 1.2 million premises had been upgraded to gigabit-capable broadband through government-funded programmes.

The connections delivered by Project Gigabit benefit rural and hard to reach communities, helping households and businesses access the digital connectivity needed to transform lives and drive economic growth.

We are committed to ensuring 99% of premises receive gigabit coverage by 2032.